Working with citizens and communities throughout South Yorkshire. The River Dôn project aims to demonstrate how we can see and sense into the complex ecosystems and relationships that comprise the water catchments we are all part of. The project is brought to life through a tangible portfolio of components designed to build capabilities for stewardship. These include the Living Stewardship Agreement for sense-making around relationships, an Engagement Platform for place-based understanding, a River Storyteller, sensing infrastructure (including precipitation radar), Don Digital Twin ecosystem modelling, a Stewardship Solidarity Fund, decentralised impact validation (Bioregional ‘current-see’), and a River Litigation Cooperative. These components work together to demonstrate diverse approaches to liveable futures.
A core component, the Living Stewardship Agreement, is a governance tool that fosters reciprocity and shared responsibility. It helps citizens create a “living eco-social contract” by connecting the needs of an ecosystem actor to another’s acts of care. This tool enables people to record and share “promises” to all inhabitants (humans and more-than-humans), building a network of commitments towards environmental and social stewardship. Operating on a peer-to-peer accountability model, it enables users to track fulfilled promises through feedback and vouching, thereby creating a transparent trust system. The Living Stewardship Agreement empowers communities to connect, stay informed, and monitor ecosystem activities, from tree planting to pollution alerts, ultimately ensuring the thriving of all beings by shifting our perspective from viewing nature as a resource to understanding them as part of commoning processes.
